A few weeks ago, I launched my first-ever reader survey. During that process, a puzzled friend emailed me, saying, ‘Doesn’t that kinda defeat the purpose of a blog? I always thought a blog is a space where you share your thoughts, experiences, dreams, funny moments, etc.’
There are blogs like that, and that’s fine. But I responded to my friend by saying that the main purpose of my blog is to serve you, my readers. I do share my experiences, but it’s always with an eye to how they might benefit you so that we can serve God and others better.
And that’s what the survey is all about. Learning more about who my readers are so that I can create posts that meet you where you actually live every day.
What The Numbers Say
My blog is still in its early stages, so I expect there to be some shifts over time. But, based on the numbers, here are some things that stood out:
- you’re split right down the middle in terms of gender
- many of you are between the ages of 25-34 (46%), but may also be in the 35-44 range (23%)
- many are married (61%) and/or have no children (57%), but that obviously means a fair number of you are not married (39%) and do have children (43%)
What It All Means
Far more interesting, though, were your responses to my open-ended questions about your frustrations and dreams. After pouring over them, here are my conclusions:
Your frustrations:
More than anything else, you guys shared about struggles with time and balance. Things like ‘time management’ and ‘balancing work and family’ came up again and again.
Related to that, many of you are also finding it difficult to carve out time for your relationship with God. You want to make that a priority, but are finding it hard when it comes to actually living it out.
Many of you also mentioned things related to parenting, your future, personal growth and managing others’ expectations.
Your dreams:
When I asked, ‘what would make this year a phenomenal one for you?’, over 30% of you mentioned – in one form or another – growing in your relationship with God. To share just a few examples:
- ‘Getting my relationship with God back in focus and to make it a priority in my life. Other things have gotten in the way recently, and that needs to change’.
- ‘Maintaining and deepening my walk with the Lord despite lots of changes coming up;.
- ‘It would be phenomenal if no matter what happens, I find myself content in Christ’.
The rest of your responses showed me that things like dating, marriage, work, and parenting are on your minds, too. For example:
- ‘Knowing how to build a healthy marriage and family’.
- ‘Finding someone to share this journey with truly would make this next year phenomenal but also finding a way to be connected to God throughout the day and keeping my eye on him in the midst of all life through at me’.
- ‘Surviving school while maintaining my close friendships. Also finding a significant other’.
- ‘Better connecting to God and my wife together; a couples goal’.
I was impressed with how seriously you guys take your relationship with God. You’re motivated to keep growing and want that to spill over very practically into every area of your lives, even though that’s obviously hard.
As I read through your responses, it struck me that we’re a lot a like. I have many of the same struggles, hopes and dreams that you do.
If you took the survey, thanks again. I learned so much about what motivates and concerns you, and it will help me serve you better.
Thanks for sharing the journey with me!